Saudi Arabia has been a significant country in our world today. One reason Saudi Arabia has been a huge factor in the world is its oil. Saudi Arabia has provided oil for many countries, most notably the United States. Since the United States cannot provide enough oil to support its industrious society, it gets the majority of its oil from Saudi Arabia, who provides about 20% of the world’s oil. Although Saudi Arabia has had good relations with the U.S. economically, it has had poor political relations following the September 11 Attacks. Since the majority of the hijackers hailed from Saudi Arabia, the U.S. was immediately suspicious of the Saudi Arabian government. This suspicion created awkwardness in the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
21st Century Saudi Arabia
Did you know? ARAMCO, or The Saudi Company, is the world’s largest producer of oil and owns twenty-six of the entire world’s share of oil production.
The documentary (shown in two parts) above explains the importance of oil in Saudi Arabia's significance in the world. It explains that Saudi Arabia has become a world power because of its production of over a quarter of the world's production of crude oil. It also shows that the United States would have no interest in relations with Saudi Arabia if it wasn't for the millions of gallons of oil that they produce daily. Along with oil, this documentary explains the religious significance of this country. Since one of the five pillars of Islam is a pilgrimage to Mecca, Muslims consider Saudi Arabia a "holy land."
Oil Field in Saudi Arabia
Did you know? In 1957, the first university of Saudi Arabia was founded. It housed twenty one students. Now there are a total of seven universities and ninety four colleges in all of Saudi Arabia.
Timeline:
1932: Abdul-Aziz bin Saud (mostly known as Ibn Saud) founds Saudi Arabia, and is named King. 1938: Arabian American Oil Company is established and completely controlled by the US after discovery of large oil deposits. 1960: Saudi Arabia is a founding member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).
1970: The Organization of the Islamic Conference (known now as Organization of Islamic Cooperation) was founded in Jeddah. It was created for inter-state unity, to read the charter click the link below. Organization of Islamic Cooperation Charter
1981: Saudi Arabia is a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which works to create unity and relations between the Member States. To read the Charter, click the link below. The Gulf Cooperation Council Charter
1999: Twenty Saudi women go to a Consultative Council for the first time ever, was a huge step forward for women's rights.
2001: King Fahd issues the eradication of terrorism, claiming it is prohibited by Islam.
2003: A group of 300 men and women sign a petition for better, far-reaching political reforms
2011: King Abdullah announces the addition of more rights for women, which includes the right to vote and run in elections
Item of interest: Mecca a key city in Saudi Arabia, and the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and is, by legend, the most loved place of Allah. This city does not allow non-Muslims to enter as it is holy ground, and a pilgrimage to Mecca is required of all Muslims as one of the Five Pillars of Islam.
20th Century Issues:
Saudi Arabia vs Israel
When Israel was allowed to take land from Palestine, many Arab countries disagreed with the agreement. They thought it was ufair for Israel to be allowed land, and didn't believe they deserved it. This caused friction between Israel and many Arab countries, which included Saudi Arabia. Because of this disagreement many countries took action against Israel.
In 1973, Saudi Arabia lead two boycotts: one against Western Countries that supported Israel in the war against Egypt and Syria, and the other against Israeli products in Saudi Arabia. They started boycotting all Israeli products because they didn’t believe that Israeli people should be allowed land in Palestine. Along with boycotting Israeli products so as not to support Israel, they also led a boycott against the Western Countries who supported Israel. They did this by creating an oil boycott, which made the oil prices quadruple. The Western Countries who supported Israel did not want to lose their good relations with Saudi Arabia because they knew the newly quadrupled oil prices could stay, which would be awful for buying oil. This harmed the entire oil system, which was extremely important with the US, as Albert Hourani said in his book, A History of the Arab People, "The Arab oil-producing countries decided to cut down their production so long as Israel remained in occupation of Arab lands, and Saudi Arabia imposed a total embargo on exports to the USA and The Netherlands, which was regared as the most favorable to Israel of Western European countries and was also a center of the free market in oil..." Albert Hourani's Quote about Saudi Arabia Oil BoycottSaudi Arabia's policy on their boycott against Israel has remained the same since the primary boycott, however, some Israeli products do enter Saudi Arabia, but mostly from another source. Saudi Arabia's boycott against the Western Countries who supported Israel, however, ended.
Saudi Arabia vs Iraq
The Gulf War began with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing their petroleum by using the method of slant-drilling. Some said Iraq only took the drastic measures of invading Kuwait because they could't pay their debt they owed from the Iraq, but either way the war between Iraq and Kuwait affected many of the surrounding countries, including Saudi Arabia.
I n 1990 Saudi Arabia sided with Kuwait after it's attack from Iraq. To protect themselves against Iraq, and to protect their oil fields and oil distribution, they asked the US military for protection. Saudi Arabia allowed Kuwait goverment personnel and citizens, along with the US military to stay in Saudi Arabia as long as Iraq was attacking. Iraq ended up taking Kuwait and naming it a province of Iraq, which only made Iraq more powerful. The Iraq-Kuwait war, which led to The Persian Gulf War where Iraq and Kuwait were fighting, caused stress on Saudi Arabia because they are a neighbor to Kuwait, and they wanted to help but they couldn't cause any tension between themselves and Iraq. This plan, however, didn't succeed because Saudi Arabia ended up asking for military assistance from the US because they did not want Iraqi's entering their land and causing harm to their oil fields.
Key Personnel:
Muhammad bin Saud and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab: were the two "initiators" of the unification and establishment of Saudi Arabia. They joined the forces of a powerful family and Wahhabism, a pure form of Sunni Islam. Islam is now the key religion in Saudi Arabia.
Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud: king of Saudi Arabia from 1964 to 1975. He is credited for initiating modernization reforms for the country, and he is recognized for his beliefs for pan-Islamism and anti-Communism. He established the bureaucracy of the kingdom and was assassinated by his nephew Faisal bin Musaid.
Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud: the King of Saudi Arabia from 1982 to 2005. He introduced the Basic Law of Saudi Arabia in 1992, which is a constitution-based charter that consists of eighty-three articles stating general principles, the structure of the monarchy, economic principles, rights and duties of citizens, general provisions, and basic laws to live by. All of these articles are written to be in parallel with principles of Islam.
King Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud: the eldest surviving son of the late King Faisel. He has previously been the Governor of the Asir Province, and is now the Governor of the Makkah province and has been since 2007.
Abdullah Bin-Abd-al-Aziz Al Saud: the successor of the late King Fahd, and the current Kind of Saudi Arabia has been ruling since August of 2005. He is known as a good, uncorrupt leader, who wants reforms as long as they go along with Saudi traditions. He has also promised that soon women will have the right to vote, as women's rights are a huge issue in Saudi Arabia. . Fun Fact: Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s driest countries. It receives rain only in the furthest north and south regions and is primarily desert.
21st Century Issues:
Women's RightsAs cultures and civilizations developed, women’s rights and suffrage began to be in high demand. Women wanted equality, whether it was in education or political standpoints. Local suffrage was granted to taxpaying women in Sweden in the early 1700s, Australian women in the mid-1800s, and the whole of America in 1920. Now, in the 21st century, most established countries have granted these requests. Saudi Arabia is not one of those countries. Only recently has the government attempted nationwide organization for women to have jobs that are considered public work forces. Women in Saudi Arabia have been “systematically” excluded from any jobs that required interaction with men, and were argued against having public jobs with the problem of veiling storefronts and transportation, as Saudi Arabian cities have hardly any public transportation. Saudi Arabia is also the only country in the world that prohibits women from driving. Because of this, many Saudi Arabian women have issued licenses from other countries. It may seem unusual to relatively open-minded countries such as the United States that the right to drive being given to women would be thought of as going against proper religious (in this case, Islamic) law. It has been attempted many times to help women gain equal respect in work fields, and many times it has failed. This year, however, the project is publically backed by King Abdullah. He has also ordered the police force to follow and enforce this decree. Making the decision to allow women to work publically was not only a good political move with the people, but also a strategic economical move. The rights for a woman to be educated were also granted recent relative to other countries, and the Saudi government soon realized that they were losing income by educating women but not allowing them to work. Although allowing women to sell lingerie seems trivial to the rest of the world, it is only a step in the direction of equal rights in Saudi Arabia, but it does create an opportunity for the government of Saudi Arabia to become stabilized. To read more in detail about this recent decree, click [here]. New York Times “Saudi Women Shatter the Lingerie Ceiling”
Fun fact: Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest producer of desalinated water, which is water that is safe to drink. Two million cubic meters of fresh water are produced from the sea by over thirty plants.
9/11
Although not in a positive aspect, 9/11 is one of the most memorable events of United States and Middle Eastern history. The majority of both countries’ populations remembers it as the day that a sequence of nineteen terrorists hijacked planes and planned to and succeeded in attacking key symbols of American success and prosperity. Few Americans recognize the impact that the attacks had on Middle Eastern politics and lifestyle. Therefore, it is important that interviews with Saudis are to be held on the anniversary of this tragic event.
Al Rabah, a liberal young journalist, tells of the aftermath here. The attacks of 9/11 were not only a surprise to the United States, but also to many Saudi Arabians. Al Rabah recalls that, when it was publically announced that fifteen of the nineteen suicide hijackers of the event were citizens of Saudi Arabia, there was a mixed reaction from other citizens of the country. Some, like Rabah, were ashamed that people of their country would impair such damage without cause on another country. Others were glad that America had been attacked. The Saudi royal family denied all support, responsibility, or interactions with the attack, and also denied that any of the hijackers were Saudis, as Interior Minister Prince Nayef Abdul Aziz did. Conspiracy theories involving Jews and Americans themselves spread throughout the Arab world in attempt to save face for the governments of Middle Eastern countries.
With these radical movements Saudi religious leaders have realized their faults in terms of education of the public. Extreme Islamic views, such as those of Al Qaeda, developed through the government's policies against non-muslims. Groups such as Al Qaeda had such impacts on the way that international coalitions were kept that the government was voluntarily moving itself on the path to a more open-minded way of living. Members of the youngest generation such as Rabah support this way of problem-solving, but there are still citizens who fear and dislike change. When liberals are anxious to take action in liberalizing the country, they are still faced with a huge obstacle: religion. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh declared the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings as "chaotic acts'' designed by “enemies of Islam” to divide the Islamic world.
Modernizing
Although it is the world’s largest oil producer, Saudi Arabia struggles to be as modern as first-world countries such as the United States. The way that the government is run is reminiscent of Europe’s Old Regime, as a king and his royal family head the country. Most of the people are acceptance of this, but the young generation wants change and is willing to take action for it. The royal family is now struggling to avoid the Arab Spring or Arab Awakening, which has been a domino-effect of demonstrations, revolts, and civil uprisings causing governments all the way from Yemen to Libya to struggle in containing the people. Causes of these uprisings have also been reflected from history: dictatorships, absolute monarchies, corrupt governments, unfair civil laws, and extreme poverty in rich land. Youth groups are dissatisfied with being a part of such an old-fashioned country, and want to modernize like the rest of the world.
Social media now plays a huge part in revolts. For just initiating the Arab Spring in Saudi Arabia, there are several Facebook groups, many which have more than twenty thousand members. The usage of Twitter in Saudi Arabia has also been recorded as increased by four hundred percent within the past few years. The generation of young adults is perhaps the most dissatisfied because they are the ones suffering from the lacking of modernization in their country. Varying from Arab state to Arab state, percentages of people from ages 15-23 strongly consider migrating permanently from their countries for jobs because they know of better governments. From state to state, people are also more or less satisfied with the way that their local governments are run. Because of ease of communication through technology, the young generation in Saudi Arabia is able to view the political and civil rights of other countries. They are using this to their advantage and demanding better and more just civil rights for themselves and generations to come.
Noah Rosen, Alexa Grasfield, Amy Cui
Summary:
Saudi Arabia has been a significant country in our world today. One reason Saudi Arabia has been a huge factor in the world is its oil. Saudi Arabia has provided oil for many countries, most notably the United States. Since the United States cannot provide enough oil to support its industrious society, it gets the majority of its oil from Saudi Arabia, who provides about 20% of the world’s oil. Although Saudi Arabia has had good relations with the U.S. economically, it has had poor political relations following the September 11 Attacks. Since the majority of the hijackers hailed from Saudi Arabia, the U.S. was immediately suspicious of the Saudi Arabian government. This suspicion created awkwardness in the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.Did you know? ARAMCO, or The Saudi Company, is the world’s largest producer of oil and owns twenty-six of the entire world’s share of oil production.
Primary Source:Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963
The documentary (shown in two parts) above explains the importance of oil in Saudi Arabia's significance in the world. It explains that Saudi Arabia has become a world power because of its production of over a quarter of the world's production of crude oil. It also shows that the United States would have no interest in relations with Saudi Arabia if it wasn't for the millions of gallons of oil that they produce daily. Along with oil, this documentary explains the religious significance of this country. Since one of the five pillars of Islam is a pilgrimage to Mecca, Muslims consider Saudi Arabia a "holy land."
Did you know? In 1957, the first university of Saudi Arabia was founded. It housed twenty one students. Now there are a total of seven universities and ninety four colleges in all of Saudi Arabia.Timeline:
1932: Abdul-Aziz bin Saud (mostly known as Ibn Saud) founds Saudi Arabia, and is named King.1938: Arabian American Oil Company is established and completely controlled by the US after discovery of large oil deposits.
1960: Saudi Arabia is a founding member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).
1970: The Organization of the Islamic Conference (known now as Organization of Islamic Cooperation) was founded in Jeddah. It was created for inter-state unity, to read the charter click the link below.
Organization of Islamic Cooperation Charter
1981: Saudi Arabia is a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which works to create unity and relations between the Member States. To read the Charter, click the link below.
The Gulf Cooperation Council Charter
1999: Twenty Saudi women go to a Consultative Council for the first time ever, was a huge step forward for women's rights.
2001: King Fahd issues the eradication of terrorism, claiming it is prohibited by Islam.
2003: A group of 300 men and women sign a petition for better, far-reaching political reforms
2011: King Abdullah announces the addition of more rights for women, which includes the right to vote and run in elections
Item of interest: Mecca a key city in Saudi Arabia, and the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and is, by legend, the most loved place of Allah. This city does not allow non-Muslims to enter as it is holy ground, and a pilgrimage to Mecca is required of all Muslims as one of the Five Pillars of Islam.
20th Century Issues:
Saudi Arabia vs IsraelWhen Israel was allowed to take land from Palestine, many Arab countries disagreed with the agreement. They thought it was ufair for Israel to be allowed land, and didn't believe they deserved it. This caused friction between Israel and many Arab countries, which included Saudi Arabia. Because of this disagreement many countries took action against Israel.
In 1973, Saudi Arabia lead two boycotts: one against Western Countries that supported Israel in the war against Egypt and Syria, and the other against Israeli products in Saudi Arabia. They started boycotting all Israeli products because they didn’t believe that Israeli people should be allowed land in Palestine. Along with boycotting Israeli products so as not to support Israel, they also led a boycott against the Western Countries who supported Israel. They did this by creating an oil boycott, which made the oil prices quadruple. The Western Countries who supported Israel did not want to lose their good relations with Saudi Arabia because they knew the newly quadrupled oil prices could stay, which would be awful for buying oil. This harmed the entire oil system, which was extremely important with the US, as Albert Hourani said in his book, A History of the Arab People, "The Arab oil-producing countries decided to cut down their production so long as Israel remained in occupation of Arab lands, and Saudi Arabia imposed a total embargo on exports to the USA and The Netherlands, which was regared as the most favorable to Israel of Western European countries and was also a center of the free market in oil..." Albert Hourani's Quote about Saudi Arabia Oil BoycottSaudi Arabia's policy on their boycott against Israel has remained the same since the primary boycott, however, some Israeli products do enter Saudi Arabia, but mostly from another source. Saudi Arabia's boycott against the Western Countries who supported Israel, however, ended.
Saudi Arabia vs Iraq
The Gulf War began with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing their petroleum by using the method of slant-drilling. Some said Iraq only took the drastic measures of invading Kuwait because they could't pay their debt they owed from the Iraq, but either way the war between Iraq and Kuwait affected many of the surrounding countries, including Saudi Arabia.
I n 1990 Saudi Arabia sided with Kuwait after it's attack from Iraq. To protect themselves against Iraq, and to protect their oil fields and oil distribution, they asked the US military for protection. Saudi Arabia allowed Kuwait goverment personnel and citizens, along with the US military to stay in Saudi Arabia as long as Iraq was attacking. Iraq ended up taking Kuwait and naming it a province of Iraq, which only made Iraq more powerful. The Iraq-Kuwait war, which led to The Persian Gulf War where Iraq and Kuwait were fighting, caused stress on Saudi Arabia because they are a neighbor to Kuwait, and they wanted to help but they couldn't cause any tension between themselves and Iraq. This plan, however, didn't succeed because Saudi Arabia ended up asking for military assistance from the US because they did not want Iraqi's entering their land and causing harm to their oil fields.
Key Personnel:
Muhammad bin Saud and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab: were the two "initiators" of the unification and establishment of Saudi Arabia. They joined the forces of a powerful family and Wahhabism, a pure form of Sunni Islam. Islam is now the key religion in Saudi Arabia.
Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud: king of Saudi Arabia from 1964 to 1975. He is credited for initiating modernization reforms for the country, and he is recognized for his beliefs for pan-Islamism and anti-Communism. He established the bureaucracy of the kingdom and was assassinated by his nephew Faisal bin Musaid.
Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud:
the King of Saudi Arabia from 1982 to 2005. He introduced the Basic Law of Saudi Arabia in 1992, which is a constitution-based charter that consists of eighty-three articles stating general principles, the structure of the monarchy, economic principles, rights and duties of citizens, general provisions, and basic laws to live by. All of these articles are written to be in parallel with principles of Islam.
King Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud: the eldest surviving son of the late King Faisel. He has previously been the Governor of the Asir Province, and is now the Governor of the Makkah province and has been since 2007.
Abdullah Bin-Abd-al-Aziz Al Saud: the successor of the late King Fahd, and the current Kind of Saudi Arabia has been ruling since August of 2005. He is known as a good, uncorrupt leader, who wants reforms as long as they go along with Saudi traditions. He has also promised that soon women will have the right to vote, as women's rights are a huge issue in Saudi Arabia.
.
Fun Fact: Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s driest countries. It receives rain only in the furthest north and south regions and is primarily desert.
21st Century Issues:
Women's RightsAs cultures and civilizations developed, women’s rights and suffrage began to be in high demand. Women wanted equality, whether it was in education or political standpoints. Local suffrage was granted to taxpaying women in Sweden in the early 1700s, Australian women in the mid-1800s, and the whole of America in 1920. Now, in the 21st century, most established countries have granted these requests. Saudi Arabia is not one of those countries. Only recently has the government attempted nationwide organization for women to have jobs that are considered public work forces. Women in Saudi Arabia have been “systematically” excluded from any jobs that required interaction with men, and were argued against having public jobs with the problem of veiling storefronts and transportation, as Saudi Arabian cities have hardly any public transportation. Saudi Arabia is also the only country in the world that prohibits women from driving. Because of this, many Saudi Arabian women have issued licenses from other countries. It may seem unusual to relatively open-minded countries such as the United States that the right to drive being given to women would be thought of as going against proper religious (in this case, Islamic) law.
It has been attempted many times to help women gain equal respect in work fields, and many times it has failed. This year, however, the project is publically backed by King Abdullah. He has also ordered the police force to follow and enforce this decree. Making the decision to allow women to work publically was not only a good political move with the people, but also a strategic economical move. The rights for a woman to be educated were also granted recent relative to other countries, and the Saudi government soon realized that they were losing income by educating women but not allowing them to work. Although allowing women to sell lingerie seems trivial to the rest of the world, it is only a step in the direction of equal rights in Saudi Arabia, but it does create an opportunity for the government of Saudi Arabia to become stabilized.
To read more in detail about this recent decree, click [here]. New York Times “Saudi Women Shatter the Lingerie Ceiling”
Fun fact: Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest producer of desalinated water, which is water that is safe to drink. Two million cubic meters of fresh water are produced from the sea by over thirty plants.
9/11
Although not in a positive aspect, 9/11 is one of the most memorable events of United States and Middle Eastern history. The majority of both countries’ populations remembers it as the day that a sequence of nineteen terrorists hijacked planes and planned to and succeeded in attacking key symbols of American success and prosperity. Few Americans recognize the impact that the attacks had on Middle Eastern politics and lifestyle. Therefore, it is important that interviews with Saudis are to be held on the anniversary of this tragic event.
Al Rabah, a liberal young journalist, tells of the aftermath here. The attacks of 9/11 were not only a surprise to the United States, but also to many Saudi Arabians. Al Rabah recalls that, when it was publically announced that fifteen of the nineteen suicide hijackers of the event were citizens of Saudi Arabia, there was a mixed reaction from other citizens of the country. Some, like Rabah, were ashamed that people of their country would impair such damage without cause on another country. Others were glad that America had been attacked. The Saudi royal family denied all support, responsibility, or interactions with the attack, and also denied that any of the hijackers were Saudis, as Interior Minister Prince Nayef Abdul Aziz did. Conspiracy theories involving Jews and Americans themselves spread throughout the Arab world in attempt to save face for the governments of Middle Eastern countries.
With these radical movements Saudi religious leaders have realized their faults in terms of education of the public. Extreme Islamic views, such as those of Al Qaeda, developed through the government's policies against non-muslims. Groups such as Al Qaeda had such impacts on the way that international coalitions were kept that the government was voluntarily moving itself on the path to a more open-minded way of living. Members of the youngest generation such as Rabah support this way of problem-solving, but there are still citizens who fear and dislike change. When liberals are anxious to take action in liberalizing the country, they are still faced with a huge obstacle: religion. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh declared the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings as "chaotic acts'' designed by “enemies of Islam” to divide the Islamic world.
Modernizing
Although it is the world’s largest oil producer, Saudi Arabia struggles to be as modern as first-world countries such as the United States. The way that the government is run is reminiscent of Europe’s Old Regime, as a king and his royal family head the country. Most of the people are acceptance of this, but the young generation wants change and is willing to take action for it. The royal family is now struggling to avoid the Arab Spring or Arab Awakening, which has been a domino-effect of demonstrations, revolts, and civil uprisings causing governments all the way from Yemen to Libya to struggle in containing the people. Causes of these uprisings have also been reflected from history: dictatorships, absolute monarchies, corrupt governments, unfair civil laws, and extreme poverty in rich land. Youth groups are dissatisfied with being a part of such an old-fashioned country, and want to modernize like the rest of the world.
Social media now plays a huge part in revolts. For just initiating the Arab Spring in Saudi Arabia, there are several Facebook groups, many which have more than twenty thousand members. The usage of Twitter in Saudi Arabia has also been recorded as increased by four hundred percent within the past few years. The generation of young adults is perhaps the most dissatisfied because they are the ones suffering from the lacking of modernization in their country. Varying from Arab state to Arab state, percentages of people from ages 15-23 strongly consider migrating permanently from their countries for jobs because they know of better governments. From state to state, people are also more or less satisfied with the way that their local governments are run. Because of ease of communication through technology, the young generation in Saudi Arabia is able to view the political and civil rights of other countries. They are using this to their advantage and demanding better and more just civil rights for themselves and generations to come.